EadhaDeora I think that your reply makes most sense. I believe that when we study and think of the ancient ones, we must remember that these peoples lived in pre-christian times and therefore were not influenced by a "revealed religion" (I won't get started on that topic).

Therefore I believe that they would indeed have used the energies of sex within a ritual context for them it would be a natural part of life, as seen in the world around them (nature).

For indeed sex would have been seen as the first step in rebirth/new life and would be connected deeply with Mother Earth. It would not have carried the taboos associated with it today.

As back to the original question, "Do Druids practice Sex Magic"? (or should I say, "Magick" with a k) .... I won't be an annoying bugger and ask you who are these 'Druids'? (ehem) But it's a valid point. And there is no way really that we can know whether or not the ancient Druids, who we know DID have powers of some sort, to create confusion, illusions, sorrow, joy, to stir men up before battle, to prophecy in trance and as we know all these things from folk stories, they also could communicate with the dead (usually described as an 'ancestor') and do all manner of things like that. And without sounding too Mists-of-Avalon-ian, my intuition is that OF COURSE they used sex in a religious context. I mean, heavens, even the king was supposed to mate with a mare (whether you choose to historically believe it or not is up to you .. but the accounts still stand). And what about Beltaine and the use of that evening to go out into the woods (or more likely) on some heather or behind the gorse bush, quite frankly rampantly copulate! that isn't just some neo-pagan interpretation, but one that has its affirming in even Hwyel Dda's laws, which gives room for the "by bush or by brake" form of sexual union, as valid and although not as high as proper marriage, still perfectly acceptable.

The question then really is ... did they use sexual union in the Wiccan 'magickal' sense of raising energies, forming intent and putting it out into the world through orgasm?

Probably not just like that. Although there could have been a handful who did.

But did they use sexual union as a sacred path to opening the self to the divine Other, as a way of expressing the cosmic order and celebrating these amazing, heady energies that overtake our bodies and spirits through mutual and self pleasure and eventual release?

I don't doubt it. It's something that you'll find in pretty much any ancient culture, including *gasp* Judaism ... and in Islam, you need only read Rumi to know what I mean! And Islam isn't even technically "ancient"! ... the Romans, Greeks, Hindus, Buddhists, Chinese, even the Germanic peoples all did. Why then should be doubt that the Celts did when they had such a love-affair with life herself?

Do modern 'druids' (note, not capitalized) use sex magick? That is entirely up to them, and although not a large or necessary part of the modern druid's path, one that I am well aware appeals to more than a few, especially those druids who started out with a wiccan or witchy path. I know two druids off the top of my head who I very very much respect who 'do' sex magick. And these aren't fluffy bunnies, neo-pagans or anything of the sort.

So .... really I would say that sex magick within modern-day Druidry/Druidism is more a personal choice than a definite element of their path.

Anyone disagree or have something to add?

--

'Just once let what is in your care grow wild enough to see the world through its own eyes.'

I agree a great deal with Alferian, especially here: "I am always put off by people who talk or write about "sex magic"
because, for one thing, it seems so sensationalize in the context of a
culture that makes everything in the world about sex."

Sex [and sexual bodily fluids] was used as offerings in ancient Greece (and perhaps Rome, but I'm not positive on that), but this is not the same as "sex magick". You will also find sexual bodily fluids used in Hoodoo and other folk practices.

Like Alferian, "sex magick" as seen through the eyes of Wicca is nothing but Westernized (perhaps even bastardized) Tantra. Most view it as a way to "raise a cone of energy", which I have no doubt happens as sex does rise a lot of energy, but I think there's too much of an emphasis on it when there's plenty of other ways to "raise energy" as well, including like Alferian mentioned, the mind. I believe many use "sex magick" as a means simply for the fact that they get to have sex lol. As we can see sex magick was practiced by both Gerald Gardner and Aleister Crowley ... of course they would bring something to do with sex into religious practice lol.

My path [Celtic Reconstruction] doesn't consist of "magick" at all really. It involves offerings, ritual, prayer and other forms of devotion. I don't "cast spells" and I certainly don't practice "sex magick".

The dubious John Huges published a book on Sex Magic which ostensibly gives away the deep secrets of traditional Welsh druidism hidden in the mountains and passed on by his grandfather etc. etc. It is basically the same Gardnerian/ Crowleyan Westernization of Tantric Yoga.

I am always put off by people who talk or write about "sex magic" because, for one thing, it seems so sensationalize in the context of a culture that makes everything in the world about sex. Our secular culture, especially perhaps in Puritan America, has turned sex into the only vestige of a sacrament that we have. Which, combined with massive mass media propaganda about sexuality that often has little to do with most people's actual experiences or lives, leads to all sorts of problems. Not the least of which is that the uninitiated get lured into the notion promulgated for so long that the work of the mage involves weird sexual orgies. These fantasies of the Catholic Inquisitors of the 17th century should not be mistaken for any sort of real magical practices. I fear that writers take advantage of the credulity of the novice (or perhaps have been taken in themselves by other people) and the lure of sensationalism. If you look at the historical record of ancient, medieval, or early modern magical practices, you will find for example that dropping your spell into a grave or otherwise invoking the recently dead can magnify and increse the potency of your magic. This method, not surprisingly, has not been taken up by modern witches and wizards. It has very little allure and would be extremely difficult with modern burial practices and laws. Not that it was every easy to full off. My point is that it is not necessary. The energy generated in the mind by sensationalism and violation of taboos certainly can assist in focusing the mind, but I am doubtful of the wisdom of using it as a shortcut or substitute for a well-trained mind.

I am sure there are self-styled druids who use sex as a turbo-charger for their magical acts, but for the most part, as far as I can see, druids are more interested in enchantment than in casting spells, raising cones of energy, or Tantra. Druid magic is more likely to involve raising a glass of mead or raising a voice in song than raising a cone of etheric vibrations though ecstatic techniques of a more vigorous nature. Which is to say, IMHO, that any mage worth his salt can weave etheric energy without involving a sexual partner. They may or may not feel it helpful to dance around naked under the moon or whatever, alone or with pals, but I certainly do not do so. Probably I'm too repressed, but the fact is that I have never felt any need to do such flamboyant things. In fact, for me, such actions would interfere with my concentration and the direction of etheric energy with the mind and be nothing but a distraction as, for me, magical actions and acts of worship are completely private matters of my relationship to the Immortal Powers and intelligences of nature.

Aleister Crowley, to whom most of this sex magic business can be traced, makes it fairly clear that using Tantric techniques to increase one's prana or life force is extremely difficult. It doesn't just mean making a wish while having sex. It is extremely hard to concentrate the mind magically while also exciting the libido and withholding climax etc. Good heavens! Aren't sex and magic complicated and tricky enough separately without trying to combine the two? As long as I'm going on and on, let me also point out that solo sexual climax and Trantric techniques to manipulate the libido (Freud's term for life energy, by the way), are far less dangerous. Because there is nothing more likely to end up destroying a sexual relationship on an emotional loving level than turning the act of love into a tool for the expression of one's will. Unless a couple is really mature and well-attuned spritually and in terms of their will, it is a ticklish business that runs the risk of the dominant partner using the other and the partner who feels used eventually coming to realize that is not healthy or sustainable. Crowley, I suspect, would have agreed but felt that his "priestesses" were working partners in magic and should not have made it anything but impersonal, as we suppose the sacred priestesses of the temples in ancient cultures offered themselves as physical avatars of a goddess. In this sort of situation sex is worship of the divine, not "magic" as such.

The principal magic that "sex magic" is certainly good for is selling books and attracting naive and troubled followers.

Hope that doesn't sound too cranky. But then, I am a crank after all is said and done.